out as far as it would go.
Although Jessica was firmly against the concept of a “selfie-stick,” it was at that moment that she decided that it could actually be quite necessary in a time like this. She pasted a wide smile on her face, but her eyes narrowed as she struggled to find her own face reflecting back at her through the mirror of the phone. There she was, in the bottom corner, nothing but her dark brown roots showing.
“Say cheese!” Grace screamed in her impossibly high voice.
Madison scoffed. “No one, ‘says cheese,’ anymore.” She sneered.
Jessica rolled her eyes just as Vanessa managed to snap the picture, but, of course, it didn’t matter because she wasn’t even in it in the first place. As soon as the image of their faces and smiles had ossified onto the camera, the girls began to disperse. “Okay, where is Benjamin?” Vanessa demanded as she darted away.
Jessica stood away from the other girls, solidifying her place right by the currency exchange booth and far away from the baggage claim conveyer belt. She rummaged in her small shoulder bag for her pack of Marlboro blacks, a smile rising on either side of her lips when she secured them. As soon as everyone was satisfied with the luggage they had claimed, they would be able to go outside and she would be able to have her victory cigarette; her own gift to herself for surviving the long and grueling journey from Boston, Massachusetts, to Cancun, Mexico. She scoffed at that thought. It was funny how their trip sounded so original and adventurous when they called it the Yucatan Peninsula. After all, it was the sight of all of those child sacrifices; brutal murders in honor of the sun God, legends of vampires and who knows what else.
But as Grace lifted her luggage off of the conveyer belt and made her way over to her, Jessica had the distinct feeling that the last thing on her friends’ minds was adventure and myths. Sadly, she was sure to be in for an entire week of flea markets, beaches, poorly made pina coladas, and really bad sex with complete strangers. Hopefully she would make it through all of this without wanting to kill herself. Or at least, that’s what she told her mother; also known as the true reason she was stuck on this Adventure Hell.
“Please go somewhere. I could cry thinking about you on that campus with no one to talk to for a whole week.” She wined over the phone.
What Mom failed to realize was that, being divorced, she herself spent almost every minute of every day, at home with no one to talk to, living off of divorce money and smothering every one else in her life.
“Okay, I need to get money. Wait.” Vanessa ordered as she approached the currency exchange booths and reached in he small bag. The flock of boys they had all assured their parents were coming with us, you know, for safety reasons, followed behind her.
Jessica scoffed; she couldn’t understand how Vanessa could be such a boy-whisperer. She had boyfriend stuck at home, working at some financial company or other, but that didn’t stop her, or anyone else.
“Didn’t we decide we were gonna exchange our currency at the airport,” Jessica all but grumbled. She was fiddling with that cigarette in her right hand and wanted nothing more than to just smoke it already.
“Not everyone can be such a wonderfully prepared gypsy as you.” Jack, the tall one with the almost, bleached blond hair and the polo shirt only a true douche bag would wear.
Madison, the one with the long, brunette hair laughed louder than any self-respecting woman should have, then placed her hand on his arm. “Yeah, I mean who was thinking about getting currency in Boston?” She retorted.
Jessica rolled her eyes again. “Look, I’ve got everything I need, including money. So, if you need me, I’ll be outside trying not to kill myself.” She muttered, mostly to herself. Without waiting for a response, she grabbed her baggage and
Lindsay Paige, Mary Smith
Wilkie Collins, M. R. James, Charles Dickens and Others